When the dreaded bandit Maragato was seized in 1806 by the humble monk Pedro de Zaldivia, a lay brother of a Franciscan barefoot order, the story swept through Spain. Not only did daily newspapers and pamphlets publicize it, but songs, ballads, and popular prints also praised the heroic deed. Although at the time Francisco de Goya was chief painter to the Spanish king, he was interested in the whole range of human experience, including contemporary Spanish events. The tale of Zaldivia and Maragato evidently captured his imagination. This small, lively painting belongs to a series of six in the Art Institute, which, like a modern-day comic strip, dramatically illustrates the event. This is the climactic scene, presenting the bandit’s degrading and not unhumorous downfall at the hands of the brave monk. Here, as in all the panels, Goya’s broad, quick brushwork dispenses with unnecessary detail to pinpoint the essential drama of the event. Goya probably made these paintings for his own interest rather than for a commission, since they were still listed among his possessions in an 1812 inventory.

Ownership History

One of a series of six small paintings in an inventory of Goya’s collection, Madrid, taken in 1812 for the division of property between the artist and his son Javier following the death of the artist's wife; the group of small paintings marked X8 being allotted to the son: "Seis quadros del Maragato señalados con el número ocho, en 700 [reales]" (the inventory mark has been removed from the painting and is no longer visible) [see Gassier and Wilson 1971]; presumably Javier Goya after 1812. Lafitte collection, Madrid; sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 7, 1861, bought in together with other paintings from the series for 590 francs [see Hippolyte Mireur, Dictionnaire des ventes (Paris, 1914), vol. 3, p. 360 and Despartment Fitz-Gerald 1928-1950]. Julius Böhler, Munich by 1911; sold to Martin Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago in May 1911 [see purchase receipt dated May 13, 1911]; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.